This Story Might Save Your Life

This Story Might Save Your Life is by Tiffany Crum. A chilling realistic fiction novel. Two best friends start a podcast which becomes extremely popular. When Joy and her husband disappear, Benny discovers Joy has sent him a copy of her unseen memoir. He must find out what happened to Joy, while he is considered a suspect in their disappearance by the police. Benny finds that he really did not know Joy at all, despite their closeness, as he reads her memoir and discovers her darkest secrets. 

Ratings: 11th grade - 7 out of 10 - P (profanity) - AC (mature thematic content). 

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion Vol 5

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion Vol 5 is by Beth Brower. A continuation of Brower's historical fiction Emma M. Lion series. The year is 1883 and Emma is living in her family home with her irritating cousin and her new boarder. The story includes all the other crazy denizens of St. Crispian's. Fans of the series will enjoy this installment. 

Ratings: 7th grade - 7 out of 10. 

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion Vol. 4

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion Vol 4 is by Beth Brower. A continuation of Brower's historical fiction Emma M. Lion series. The year is 1883 and Emma is living in her family home with her irritating cousin and her new boarder. The story includes all the other crazy denizens of St. Crispian's. Fans of the series will enjoy this installment. 

Ratings: 7th grade - 7 out of 10. 

Love and Other Monsters

Love and Other Monsters is by Emily Franklin. A lively historical fiction recounting of the summer spent by the Shelleys, Lord Byron and others on the shoers of Lake Geneva. The tale is told through the eyes of Mary Shelley's stepsister, Claire. Claire is all but absent from the history of this summer. Franklin's novel proposes a reason for this. This novel is dark and propulsive. I enjoyed it more than I had expected. 

Ratings: Adult - 8 out of 10 - AC (mature thematic content). 

Son of Nobody

Son of Nobody is by Yann Martel. A retelling of The Iliad combined with the story of a translator and his family. Harlow Donne is a Canadian who goes to Oxford to translate Greek relics. The Psoad is the story of the Trojan War as seen through the eyes of Psoas of Midea. Donne translates the fragments as he writes letters to his daughter Helen, to whom he dedicates his translation. The story alternates between Donne's point of view and that of Psoas and the other figures from Homer's tale. An interesting story. It made me want to pick up Homer's work again. 

Ratings: 11th grade - 8 out of 10 - AC (mature thematic content) - P (profanity). 

The Hounding

The Hounding is by Xenobe Purvis. A historical fiction novel that is on the strange side. The Mansfield sisters live with their father on an estate near the village of Little Nettlebed. A drought is causing the river to dry up and the crops to fail. When the villagers began to hear barking, they believe the Mansfield girls are turning into wild dogs using witchcraft. But is it really witchcraft or merely another type of evil? This is an interesting and thought provoking parable with a twist at the end that should have been obvious. I did not like this book as much as I wanted too after the reviews I read. 

Ratings: 12th grade - 6 out of 10 = AC (mature thematic content). 

Platform Decay

Platform Decay is by Martha Wells. The eighth book in the science fiction Murderbot series. Murderbot volunteers for a rescue operation on a hostile space ring. But now it must spend extended amounts of time interacting with, and trying to save, young humans. ICK! Another wonderful installment in a great series. Fans of the series will love this story. Murderbot is the best!!!

Ratings: 9th grade - 10 out of 10. 

Vigil

Vigil is by George Saunders. A strange fantasy novel by one of my few favorite modern authors. Jill is sent to earth to guide a dying soul to the afterlife. But K. J. Boone is unlike any charge she has ever encountered. He doesn't want to be consoled as he has nothing to regret - or does he? "Visitors" began to appear seeking a reckoning, birds swam the dying man's room, two cronies from the past arrive with their own agenda. This is not an easy read, but it is charming in its own way, as it looks at dying, good and evil, and what faces us in the afterlife. 

Ratings: 12th grade - 7 out of 10 - (Profanity) - AC (mature thematic content). 

A Natural Man

A Natural Man is by Gary Soto. A work of modern poetry by the famous Hispanic poet. A short collection of Soto's poetry. Easy to read and understand. Fans of Soto will enjoy this collection. 

Ratings: 10th grade - 7 out of 10 - AC (mature thematic content). 

The Library of Amorlin

The Library of Amorlin is by Kayln Josephson. The first in the fantasy Age of Beasts series. Kasira is a con artist who has been arrested and is forced to pose as the new assistant librarian in the magical Library of Amorlin. She is to assume the post of librarian and turn the library's secrets over to the kingdom of Kalthos who wish to use its powers for evil. But when she arrives, she discovers the librarian is not at all what she believed him to be. Can she save the library and herself or will she have to choose? An interesting magical world filled with political intrigue as well. 

Ratings: 10th grade - 8 out of 10 - V (violence) - AC (mature thematic content). 

Cocktail Time

Cocktail Time is by P.G. Wodehouse. The third Uncle Fred installment in Wodehouse's charming historical fiction series. When Uncle Fred shoots the hat off of a stuffy relative with a Brazil nut, it inspires the relative to write a scandalous novel about the younger generation. As he contemplates political office, he enlists Uncle Fred's help to keep his authorship secret - and of course, hijinks ensue. I love Uncle Fred almost as much as the Blandings stories. Fans of Wodehouse will enjoy this series as well. I wish I had an Uncle Fred!

Ratings: 9th grade - 10 out of 10.